


Delicious Pinwheel

by Oganesso



Category: Battle For Dream Island (Web Series)
Genre: F/F, Love Triangles
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-11-27
Packaged: 2021-03-08 22:21:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27284092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oganesso/pseuds/Oganesso
Summary: Ever since moving to Pamana City, Ice Cube has made new relationships with its people. She's almost saved up enough to go to university. Yet when she does have enough funds for college, her biggest obstacle is not money in the end, but whom she wants to spend her campus days with.
Relationships: Book/Ice Cube (Battle For Dream Island), Ice Cube/Pin (Battle For Dream Island)
Kudos: 6





	1. Meringue Cookies

Ice Cube had just come out of the subway that Friday. It had been a long day of intern work at the metro, verifying tickets, maintaining hand sanitizers, and accommodating foreign guests who didn't speak English very well. Now it was 9 o'clock PM, time to head to the barista for some free coffee. When she stepped out of the metropolitana that cold December night, she had expected to get some late conversation with her coworkers at her day job and then head home, to the second floor of her apartment.

-

Pin was an ordinary metro food seller for various stations, selling rice cakes and the like, usually at ripe time for passerby who'd gotten off work and were ready to retire the day at the bar or head home to buy some alcohol. Although it was a rather busy spot, today she'd not seen many customers. She asked Needle, her coworker and older sister, what might've been going on. Needle wasn't too sure either, which was surprising for Pin. Needle is a few years older than Pin, as she is in her senior year of college. Pin, an 18-year-old senior in high school, knew Needle talked to the community around town a bit more than her, and so Needle usually knew what was happening around the district. Needle went to university there in town, but herself, her friends, and Pin went to events elsewhere together every once in a while. Needle took care of Pin; they'd lived solely together for the past two years while their parents were in another country with family, including Neelde and Pin's younger sister.

"Oh," said Pin, noting Needle's lack of knowledge about the customers. "Must be because of the weather." It was ten past 9, twenty minutes before closing time. Pin and Needle started taking inventory early so they could get home before being caught in the coming blizzard that was all over the news last night. According to major sources, the first was scheduled to arrive at 2:30am tomorrow and persist for until 4am. Something told Pin it wouldn't be reoccuring or significant. On the thought of cold weather, Pin thought of when her family would get home soon in December. It was just over four weeks until Christmas.

Things were quiet, as was usual this late at night. Only a few vendors were still open due to the sensational weather news. Pin started the bike ride home, and Needle closed shop and raced after her sister on her own bicycle.

That night Ice Cube made some dinner and sat at her laptop, watching Korean pop choreography while browsing her usual sites. Her heater was on tonight, which was notable since her apartment owner was known to usually be grudgey with using any unnecessary heat. At least that's what she'd learned from her room buddy, Cake, who'd been living here longer, and who had inspired Ice Cube to stay here with her while Ice Cube raised money. It was usually imperative that you bought your own supply of heat. However, this winter, the owner supplied heat for everyone, her charity to everyone living in her apartment during the winter, "from the bottom of her heart". Ice Cube assumed it was because she was legally required to now. By happenstance Ice Cube didn't particularly mind the cold, so she would have been quite content either way.

Ice Cube intended for this to just be a 4-6 year stay while she raised enough money from her jobs to continue getting a degree at this city's university, and it had been nearly eighteen since she moved here, in early December of last year. Her day job is a barista at the local coffee shop, that job again suggested to her by Cake. She had a lot to thank her high-school friend for. The shop was open only for a couple hours today Friday, at the final hours of usual schedule, to sell off orders made during the previous week that hadn't been picked up. Oddly her manager had instructed her not to come to help, though she could get some coffee if she wanted. Ice Cube was a little confused, as she was used to being the one to do the job of selling it off. But her coworker told her she wasn't being replaced and there was nothing to worry about. Her manager even felt a bit sorry for her wording, reassuring Ice Cube she wasn't being fired.

Throughout her life, Ice Cube was told she was a slacker by teachers, parents of friends and strangers who couldn't mind their own business. She knew she had a harder time giving others a hand, but she is certain she always puts in effort when it is important. Now, a little too paranoid about what others think of her, Ice Cube imagined the moments when she "slacked off" in front of her computer and reimagined the scenario playing out as if she had done what she should have done.

And... why was she thinking of events that happened years ago? She realized she was getting tired. She looked in front of herself again and realized she'd been in her mind for so long the screen had timed out. After coming to her senses in an attempt to remind herself what she was doing, she closed her social media and went to put her microwavable dinner on the kitchen counter.

Early that morning, Ice Cube woke up to a text from Book. "Coooomeeee outside." Ice Cube left her comfortably warm bed and opened up her window to a snow-filled landscape. It was too dark and precipitating to see anyone outside, assuming the temperature did not deter them from strolling outside at first contact anyway. The parking lot across the street and a few dozen yards wide was white, smooth and beautiful. The trees were covered white and snow fell onto Ice Cube's face where it stayed for a moment before melting against her warm face. And the wind greeted her hair and its chill weaved between her legs.

Glad to see that the full aura of the coming season was about the city. She loosened the tightness of her clothes so the cold air could enter and wake her up, sending her shivering.

She saw something being moved and turned on in the lot as her vision adjusted but it was blurry and painful to look at directly. Another ping from her phone. "Wait for your vision to get better." Ice Cube messaged back to the bright screen from her window. "Obviously." In the center square of the lot, a standard faux Christmas tree stood, decorated with ornaments of snowmen and angels and candles, every synthetic leaf a tone of sage, the tips of them highlighted goldenrod in a gradient. This looked just like the one Ice Cube helped haul in for Book when they were just acquaintances. Ice Cube remembered how it had gone down: They'd shopped in a department store for the tree for Book's family, dragged it out into the parking lot, and rode away Book's sister's car before forgetting they hadn't strapped the tree onto the car. Her sister drove back and got it before anything happened to it, luckily.

Attention now present to the top of the tree, Ice Cube saw one splendorous wooden angel in the figure of herself, larger and more pristine than any of the other decorations, and she drew all of Ice Cube's attention. The inside of the figure reflected the moonlight through the clouds so well it was as if it was glowing with its aura, encasing to Ice Cube (it was really just a crazily bright light that nearly blinded her). The angel's wings which grew from her waist were butterfly-like and spectacular, and, on her neck, what looked like an emulation of Book's bracelet (a match of which Ice Cube keeps in her bedroom). Ice Cube marveled. Ice Cube only just noticed Book standing beside it. Ice Cube mouthed words only the two and Ruby would get the inside joke to, and waited for Book to understand. Ice Cube was already at the end of her sentence and had guessed that Book was only paying attention to her phone for a text, and hadn't seen Ice Cube's expressions at all.

Book resumed walking intently, enwrapped in her cluelessness of what Ice Cube was doing, whilst climbing up the fire escape of the apartment, that the three knew how to unhinge the ladder of. Book began doing what Ice Cube just had done with the lip syncing thing, and, nearly frustrated, Ice Cube almost ignored her. But Ice Cube did in fact look at Book's lips, she did not need to, but she could have indulged in the sight of those lips any day no matter if they were in the process of making words or not, and that's what tipped her decision. The two locked eyes three feet from each other, motionless, until Ice Cube pressed her lips against Book's own.

The two closed their eyes. A moment passed. The heat from the other's body nulled any cold breeze from Book's direction. Or Ice Cube just couldn't feel it anyway. Then they heard a garbage truck driving toward the lot and Ice Cube climbed over her window, down the fire escape, and they both ran to save the tree, racing to see who would be the first to touch it and who would be the loser who would have to haul the whole tree. Then they walked back to Book's van with Book walking free-handed and Ice Cube hauling a three foot tree in a library bag, before entering the van and caressing again briefly. "Thank god we saved that," said Book. "I spent all night carpentering it."

"Carpentering?", questioned Ice Cube. Book proudly said, "Yeah. The class payed off didn't it."

"You mean carpenting."

"Yes. I'm pretty mean, or average, at carpentering, but I'm sure you'll be blinded my amazing skills in four months time after more practice."

"No. The word." said Ice Cube, vainly. "'I went carpentering tonight.' It should be carpent _er_ ing."

The garbage collector sounded his horn; they were in his route. Book and Ice Cube were silenced and got in the van. They couldn't go back up to the apartment through the window now: the truck driver had seen the fallen ladder and had lifted it back up to unreachable-ness. "It's about one hour until we can go in through the front," Ice Cube said.

"Are you sure?" asked Book. "You know the owner won't open the door for strangers all day on a Saturday, not just the early hours. You told me."

"I know, but you know where she goes every saturday."

"That's right," Book laughed. "You'd think she'd buy more pain relievers if this happens this often."

"Or stop getting cramps altogether from not sitting in that cruel posture all day?" Ice Cube laughed meekly. Book joined.

"I know yours is not, but no breakfast shops are open right about now, are they?"

"Nope. I'll call Cake to let us in, I almost forgot about her. She'll come. When she wakes up, that is."

They waited in the van.

Pin sat on the counter. Did she really have to do this? She opened up a mobile game on her phone. She fully understood she was acting childish in public. Good.

"Yes, you have to do this, Pin."

"Why? In fact I don't know who you are," said Pin. Her total argument so far was as weak as that single rebuttal. But she must have been stressed, because she knows when something is futile. If she wasn't stressed she wouldn't have done this. Do you really want to stress people out? This is what she told the flight attendant.

Yet she was insistent on acting stubborn today, in front of.. who? Who was this? Why does this man - "Jose" - think he can just snatch her possessions and make her have to beg to have it back?

"I didn't snatch your possessions, I refused to allow you to bring a backpack full of rotted fruit and buttons into an airport. You can continue without it. If you're stressed, we sell pillows. And my name tag says Cloudy Johnson, not Jose."

"OK, fair point."

A loose group of people nearby laughed innocently at the scene. Pin waved and smiled awkwardly at them. Awkward movement, but she wasn't exactly embarrassed. Because two seconds ago she'd won the secret dare she'd made with her younger sister last year, which they alternated with each other every year. This time the dare was to make a scene at the airport with a worker, to the point of making other people in the airport laugh. With this victory, Pin would get to collect two dollars from her this year.

Cloudy noticed Pin's outward change in demeanor. "Want me to take this off your hands while you go to your family in the exiting line instead? You look pretty eager to meet them as soon as possible." Pin refused and instead smiled and sat back down on the counter, waiting for her relatives to come to her.

Pin got up and greeted her immediate family as they entered the airport from the flight from Hong Kong. Usually Pin and Needle flew to them, but because of a recent storm, local airports only let flights to and from the port be booked by people in a group of at least three. After the greeting, Needle drove from campus to the airport to pick everyone up. Pin remembered to get her buttons - she worked hard to get those - and Needle drove to drop them off home. Pin almost couldn't contain her gladness at not having to be in Hong Kong to taste her cousin's horrible annual Christmas duck dumpling soup.

9:30AM. Central Pamana Bookstore, the place that never leaves you. Dora walked in the shop through the back, solicitously, trying to be unseen. Would she catch another person returning a comic late again? She stood attentive. Early in the morning, walking to the library in this weather? Someone would definitely think it was the right time to try to pull this stunt. Edging her way down the isles... Now so close the book return - scanning the passed shelves for sight of anyone; is that Creatures of Goiky? A shiny, limited edition comic, only 200 copies, with author's notes. It had only just caught her eye, so the novel had definitely not been there a minute ago, when she had scanned it earlier. She walked back toward the bookcase containing the specified comic. It had wet stains and plain to see creases with leaves littered between the pages. Not in good shape. The door opened, a hooded figure swiftly left the bookstore. Dora only had to tell the figure to pay $10.00 next time they came in or they could not checkout comics again, and the culprit gave in - not being able to bear her reputation with the library becoming tainted.

"Caught. Book, what did I say about book renewal?"

"Yeah yeah, but I love the series and had to checkout all of the editions before someone else came in and snatched them up," Book replied. Dora smiled. "Well, what can I expect from you when you're desperate." Book gave $15.00 to the librarian and turned to her van in the snow. Why did she feel coerced to lie to about a comic to a semi-close friend she met through an algebra summer camp? Because that comic sold out every day as soon as it was in stock, so who would blame her? Right? She was normal about where to apply competition, right? Book went home. She told herself she was tired from making that hollow wooden angel. She didn't feel like doing much else that day.

Pin woke up a couple hours past noon after the ride home and a subsequent nap. A moment later she heard a terrifyingly explosive 'bark' from downstairs. She froze for a second. She'd always been afraid of large dogs. It repeated. That was enough to get her to stand up out of her bed and swing open her door to find out what it was. In the hallway she saw it was Teardrop playing pranks again. Pin took the voice recorder from her younger sister and threw it down the hall. 

A little hungry and disgruntled, Pin proceeded to have a voracious feast of human hopes and flesh. In her favorite free-to-play MOBA, Argonaut: Pubstomper, of course. She played alone today, all her friends were offline spending time with their families that evening. Pin sometimes spent time with family did as well, but her priorities were elsewhere after that wake-up call. She aced her first and second games, before the game force-updated.

Then on her phone she noticed Coiny was in the process of texting her. Coiny and Pin were close friends, Pin even considered Coiny her best friend, but would never just casually say it. It wasn't romantic at all, at least to Pin, and for as long as she could remember she never found people like Coiny the kind to attract her. Her younger sister Teardrop would jokingly mock her for that selectiveness. But after grade school Pin never took ridicule from strangers personally; she wasn't really close to anyone else there, besides TD.

In cases where Pin did not want to walk home, Needle, who was virtually taught in her last one and one fourth year of highschool - a personal choice: she'd injured her legs in a track event in her junior year, and she wanted to help Teardrop because she was entering middle school and required homeschooling for communication difficulties - would pick Pin up.

Right now, Pin, Teardrop and their mother and father were here at the house. Needle was helping her friend out with delivering for her business and would be back home in time for Christmas.

The 17-year old didn't really know what do this year. She'd spent every New Year's in Hong Kong with her extended relatives. Every twelve months of her whole life, this period was the highlight of her year. She wished that wouldn't change this week, and a twinkling sound began. Pin looked up and came back to her senses. Coiny, or 'Dirmel', had sent her a message on QueChat.

Dirmel: 'Can't play argo. sorry'

Pin replied. tacaeang: 'Why not?'

Dirmel: 'The game's updating, only a tenth of the highest level users can connect to the servers in the beta. according to Wekoed. The queues for lower players are closed because of a bug causing uneven team matchups.'

Not being in the mood for doing much of anything else but more Pubstomper, she connected to another game, successfully. It looked like she was in the tenth of high-level players with access to the update.

In the pre-game lobby of the game, someone locked in the character Jason, a combatant, even though Pin had called dibs earlier in chat. Forty seconds left to choose a hero. Now she had to pick Medea or Hera, both supports. She didn't know Medea's abilities very well, and Hera was a new hero that she hadn't gotten around to trying out yet. She chose Medea.

Looking back at sidebar: The offender's username who took her character was 'favoriteCube'. It made her a little heated that they now might be losing the game because he took her character. She usually ignored these things or quit and joined another lobby, but she checked his game profile and he didn't look crass at all, actually pretty nice. Pin weighed the chance that it was just a misunderstanding, and assuming it was, she sent a message in game lobby chat.

tacaeang: 'favoriteCube, I wanted to play Jason. I called him.'

She waited and there was no quick reply. But after ten seconds:

favoriteCube: 'Sorry, I keep chat muted and didn't notice you'd said that. I was going to try out a new hero. You can play my role instead, I'll take support'

He switched his character, and he now had Medea, a support hero. After now concluding that it didn't matter, Pin had a change of heart at the last second.

tacaeang: 'Actually, I was just frustrated. Its cool, I'll take Medea, you take jason and we can both learn a little'

She voted for another swap. The stranger accepted. Now Pin had Medea, a support, and he had Jason, a combatant. With only three seconds left of lobby time, the timer counted down to zero and the actual game began. There were three total players on their time and three on the enemy's, as standard.

The start of the game looked different than her first two games of the day. This bug was definitely in conjunction with a heavy visual update. Pin thought of what her game plan would be as a support. What would her starter item be this game? Orb of Causticity? Apparel of Sneakiness? Or leather boots?

favoriteCube: 'Get Argus's Band as your starter, so you can get the sight skill early on.'

Argus's Band was an available support item and unlocked the sight skill. It also allowed players could bind an oath to any allied hero, and the support's ally-aiding abilites would be global when assisting the person with the other band. It was powerful, but its cost was high - all of your starting gold.

tacaeang: 'These guys look like they're all mostly tanks, wouldn't attack speed might be more beneficial for us? and you have Black Veil. Did you mean to get a Vile Blade?'

Black Veil allowed instant teleportation to any point on the map once in the game, and five-second invisibility afterward. It was one-use. As another expensive item, it required all gold you had from the start. Vile Blade was a cheaper and more sustainable standard combatant option, but this player didn't sound like he went for standard options.

favoriteCube: 'Nope, Black Veil. Get the Band. Medea, watch me on the map.'

Pin (Medea) went with the Argus's Band and proceeded to move the middle of the arena with one of her other teammates, in the typical position of support heros. With the vision Medea provided they could see the enemies. The enemies looked like they were a five-man team and couldn't properly position in time because they were slow-moving tanks.

(Jason) used Black Veil to teleport to their base and hide from their vision, waiting for the two slowest to be caught alone. With the 5-second invisibility from the item, he walked behind one of them. Health of a player scaled with level, so it was easy killing one enemy player who had unlocked no levels, while invisible. A level of a single teammate could be unlocked with each ally kill on any enemy. When one of the stronger enemies targeted Jason in the base, Medea used her 'Arrive' skill, that she'd just unlocked. The 'Arrive' returned Jason to where he was five seconds ago, just where he originally teleported. Again behind the enemy he'd killed ten seconds ago, since they'd respawned and were moving to the middle of the map again. That's when the Jason caught him alone, again. This made for a dyad.

tacaeang: 'This is pretty exploitable, lol.'

favoriteCube: 'Yeah that item may have been a mistake, haha. I may have played a few games with it.'

Pin was impressed by this player's skill; she could never have done this any time she had played the hero, she usually took the same items every game regardless of the matchup. By this time the gold and extra skills granted each of the three players on Pin's team the amount gold they had started with. They easily won the match after the one dead enemy quit the game, and Pin's team took the Golden Fleece.

'Hey, favoriteCube, want to be friends?', Pin typed in the after game lobby.

favoriteCube: 'Sure, I'm not on much often anymore though'.

tacaeang: 'Oh, cool. no problem thats fine'

favoriteCube: 'Add me on queChat? "icee#4444" I check that way more often'

tacaeang: 'cool, Sure!'

-

Ice Cube decided that was enough of the game for the day and went out on a walk outside in the late evening. Near ten o'clock she came back to a message from tacaeang (Pin).

tacaeang: 'I was pretty rude back there, sorry. The game does that to me sometimes. And a really annoying snowplow was outside all day.'

Ice Cube hadn't though much about what happened earlier, unbothered.

icee: 'Yeah no problem, you honestly weren't acting too unusual. Same here with the snowplow btw. coincidence. This one has this annoying high pitched buzz that changes frequency every minute.'

tacaeang: 'Oh no way. That sounds just like this one. Peppco owned vehicle?'

icee: 'It is. Those things are deafening and should not be on the street. I live in an apartment near a big park and they're on this street all day.'

tacaeang: 'I think we live pretty near each other. Pamana District?'

icee: 'Yes. Let me guess. You also live in an undersized apartment?'

tacaeang: 'Same, same. I HAVE to go to the park and watch the water just to get away from the density sometimes.'

icee: 'I was literally just there. Want to go to there tomorrow?'

tacaeang: 'umm I dont know if my parents would exactly take it lying down. I have to supervise my younger sister that day.'

icee: 'Oh I understand. Been there.' She hadn't.

tacaeang: 'On the morning of a day that looks good we'll elect to go?'

icee: 'Will. Looking forward to it.'

* * *

  
"Let's get to work, sweeties!", Ruby gleefully gave across. "I love baking" said Cloudy, happy with the turn-up at the event. "I'm not too sure what to think of the recipe I'm supposed to make soon," Book said with part confusion. "Part of it is gelatin, and the rest,.. Ice Cube's keeping it a secret from me. I trust her and all, but what if it's something way out of my skill area?" Ruby dismissed her, "This is The Pamana December Baking Show, Book, not Hell's Kitchen. Just go with it. Don't be glum, have some fun! Besides, do you want to sound unconfident in front of your new _girlfriend-_??" "She's not - I mean, she is.. we are, I mean, but - Ruby, this is on TV!" Ruby thought it was funny how Book got so awkward when talking about her.

The Pamana Baking Show was held every year on December 1 and went on a livestream, as people across the district watched. Ruby found out about this event through an flyer, and when she became 15, Ruby opted to speak for the event until she left for college, which would be in less than a year. Ruby and Book went to this bake-off as a duo every year since, and, after Ice Cube introduced herself to the friend group, as a trio.

The usual team compilation for the two-team baking competition was two students and a mentor, but last year Ruby had proved herself so skilled, a mentor wasn't needed, and all three of them - Ruby, Book, and Ice Cube - could work together on the same team. They would usually all go on the same team again this year, but this year Ruby was confident she could crush her friends, as a final way of saying sayonara to the event. It looked like a disproportionate amount of people were rooting for Ruby's team in the livestream chat (displayed as a red fruit icon with Ruby, Fanny, and Cloudy's names under it), than Book, Ice Cube, and Gelatin's (green fruit icon).

"The broadcast hasn't started yet, silly, that's in a few minutes," Ruby responded to Book's last question. "And your bae's still in the lavatory. Trust me, I was watching to find an idea for what to give the viewers when I win today." A few queued in-person viewers for Ruby's team quickly changed their minds and went to green team's seating area, making it equal. " _Why_ did you have to say that so loudly Ruby. I don't like being near sweaty people," Book whispered. "Just making it even, Bookington." She clearly didn't want them either.

"Anyways," Ruby said to the crowd, "that was the final registration to bring utensils and cooking supplies to the event. We're full! Sorry! Go home!" A disappointed 'boo' came from some crowded corner at the back of crowd. Ice Cube at last came back from the lavatory. It was time to begin.

"And now, I think we're ready to begin. Welcome to the Pamana Baking Show! Two teams of so-so student bakers will have two hours to compete and make the best bakes in Pamana City. We're broadcasting this Sunday with an audience from the sunny Pamana Central Park, and you can watch it all online! I'm your host, Ruby. Today, as every year, we have two special guest bakers with us. On the green team, we have the "not-so-ametuer-baker" master-chef Gelatin. As mentor for the red team, a baker guru, Cloudy! The mentors have brought one of their own famous written recipes and will have guide their mediocre team of two to victory by baking best, most delicious one! But their team will have to be the ones doing most of the baking, as there are limits how much a mentor can help. On green team this year: Book and Ice Cube! And on my team this year, Fanny and Ruby! Round of applause, everyone. Now let's get baking!" Hoots and hollers and the general enthusiasms roused from the audience in the park. It would be a particularly interesting show this year.

-

"So, now that we've begun the initialization steps on our recipes, tell us a little bit about yourself, Cloudy."

"Well, my name is Cloudy and I was born in Kansas. My core aspiration in my early years was to be the best baker in every city I said my family name in. Now I work at a metropolitan Wisconsin city airport and I've ended up on a baking show for teens."

"Interesting! You know, Pamana _is_ an airport town. What recipe do you have for us?"

"I'm teaching my team how to make a French vanilla Soufflé."

"Safe and simple. And on the green team; Ice Cube?"

"We're making a gelatin with meringue cookies."

"Ice Cube, how'd you know we'd be doing meringue cookies?" Book asked to her over the surrounding noise. Ice Cube spoke to the microphone again. "Well, I always love them when she makes amazing cookies for me, so I thought I'd use this opportunity to give something back on-par with her skill." An aww came from the crowd. "How sweet to have a couple on the set. But enough about you!" Ruby walked back to the red team and continued to present to the camera for a bit as Ice Cube began work with her team, attempting to help.

"No. For starters, you'll want to mix gelatin with _this_ ," corrected Gelatin. "Don't worry, beginners' mistake."

As she was being instructed, Ice Cube noticed Book looking over her table with with confusion. Ice Cube dismissed herself and walked over to find out how she could help her friend. "I'm so dead," Book communicated. "How the hell are we supposed to beat Ruby? She's saved our team's air gas every year. Last time we tried to make a jelly filled donut and you ended up with a bumpy volcano that spilled over to the other team's plate," Book laughed. Ice Cube nudged her partner on the shoulder. "Come on, at least watch me melt the competition on _purpose_ this time."

"Beyblade, you say?" Ruby was in another crowd interview. "I'm short on time, I'll have to wrap up this interview here. Nonetheless, very interesting hobbies, Mr. Johannes Brahms." The livestream relay cut to a display of messages from donations from the past twenty minutes. "Ruby, if you have time, what do you think of this? Better than yours last year?" Book called over. Ruby told a crowd goer to take control of the tripod and walked over to her friend. She spoke the truth anyone would have thought. "I don't know if I've used a fork exactly like that before, so I can't say." "This is the third one," said Book. For a moment she silently attempted to understand why a world-class chef like himself would do such a thing. "You'd think it's enough," she eventually agreed. "I'm sure this guy knows what he's doing," said Ice Cube, timidly careful in case he was listening. She wanted her last year here to go over well. Fanny shouted over the trio's closed conversation. "Hey Ruby, wanna help sometime?"

"On the way! Wait, hold on, I forgot I had to go to the bathroom before I spoke to that interviewee. Back in 5!"

Book tried to use the forks again the way she was told to. It just wasn't working.

"You know," someone from the crowd said to Book once Ruby was gone, "You wouldn't have to worry about those cutlery if you had a _repellent_ for them, hmm?"

Book looked to Ice Cube. She was off using fondant with Gelatin. She might have to handle this herself. "I've watched these events from across the state every year and it's always done so wrong," the fan continued. "I could show you the proper way, for a close-up view, perhaps."

Book thought Ruby was right in her thinking: Some of these people were ravenous for close-up views for this baking event. Book didn't even know that more than a couple hundred people watched this a year online. "I'm sorry, the speaker said no more front row views."

"I see. Then how about a place on the show?" 

They really wanted the close-ups, Book thought. The two other green team members were waiting for her now. Book ignored the fan and returned to fetching the whisks to return to her mates. "Hey, anyone know him?" "No," Gelatin and Ice Cube both replied.

Meanwhile, the red team had been waiting for Ruby, but now they thought about beginning work without their MIA. "We're behind; where did Ruby _go_?" Fanny said, disgruntled. "She was supposed to be back from the bathroom five minutes ago!"

Ruby didn't come back after yet another 5 minutes. "I'm sure it will be worth it when we get the first-place prize," said Cloudy. Fanny, bored, prodded him in an attempt to get some of the prize: "We'll get something at the end of this, right? What did she tell you we were all baking for again?" "I don't remember exactly what she said the winner would get, but it had something to do with 'investment capital'."

Fanny was shocked by this. The big prize besides money this year was only 'more money'. In past years it had been a skilled tutor to help with a college essay or even a MacBook, depending on your age. "I hate this! I needed college credits, not money!"

Fanny left the set to sit in the crowd. "Well now how will I make this soufflé," Cloudy asked himself. He thought back to past critical moments in his life. He'd said he'd be the best baker in any town he'd said his family name in just an hour ago, hadn't he? He'd said it to the girl at the airport yesterday morning. Cloudy looked over to the green team; they weren't too impossibly ahead. If an opportunity would present itself in his life to fulfill his dream to make the best bake in this town, this was it, and it had been provided to him by that angel that got him to say his last name.

Cloudy was filled with rejuvenating energy in a bright flash, expanding in his own size greatly as well. "This is for you, weird airport girl!" He got to work with the whisks and the yolks and the flour and went to town (not literally).

-

It was at the point that Ruby saw thunder and heard the sound of lightning that she decided she'd spent enough time filling in coloring books in the bathroom stall and should go see what was going on. The contestant interviews had resumed a few minutes ago now, according to schedule. She had to make sure whoever was handling it had good content. As soon as she exited the lavatory, Ruby asked Cloudy where Fanny went. "She left, she didn't like the prize this year," throated a huge puffy Cloudy (he was mixing things inside of himself, it appeared). "Leafy's getting good footage over here, Ruby. Don't worry," he also said.

"Leafy?" Ruby exited the picnic area in search of the camera. Forgetting who she'd left the tripod to, she asked around the crowd. "Need some help Ruby?" asked a uniformed teenager directing the camera; a stagehand of whom Ruby forgot the event had. "Yeah, thanks, _Leafy_ ," she said reading off of her nametag. "Do you think you have the camera skills to assist in my place while I return to the competition?" Ruby asked. Leafy gladly obliged.

"Great! Now get to that camera work, stagehand. It's difficult," said Ruby.

"I mean I'm technically above your position as a minor speaker, though, but OK."

-

By now Book, Ice Cube, and Gelatin were far and ahead, according to Gelatin's encouraging words. They'd finished mixing the powder in with the water and were now idle near the freezer waiting for the solution to cool. The chef remembered something: "Ice Cube, didn't you say you were also wanting to make meringue cookies?" Gelatin noted. "Oh yeah, I did, didn't I? I have the stuff but I forgot to print the recipe I had. Want to look it up for us Book? We've got ninety minutes." Book did so, and green team started on the meringue cookies.

-

"Ruby is that.. toilet paper on your shoe?" Cloudy hollered over as she was headed toward him. "Oh my smokey quartz, you're right. I must have stepped in something near the benches. Thanks, Cloudy. That would've been quite a corundum to figure out how to hide if I were presenting in front of the camera." Ruby leaned over to remove the toilet paper. Half of it ripped off, but the tissue was extremely sticky to her shoe, almost like vomit, and the other half of the piece remained. These shoes were made not to slip. She tried to get her fingernails into the crevices of the soles and tear, but this made ever smaller particles to become stuck in the sole pattern, particularly bonding with the material in the custom-made shoes. The stuff would stain there indefinitely if she didn't wash it out now. She filled a water bottle at a water fountain and struggled for at least another five minutes.

While all this was going on, Teardrop and Pin watched the broadcast of the event in Pin's bedroom. Pin was on the phone with Needle, who was watching it in her friend's dormitory. "Have _you_ considered making gelatin it this way Needle?" asked Pin.

" _No_ , and that is **_not_** how you use a fork!" Needle said laughingly. "I hope green team wins this year, they're in the lead though." said Teardrop, happily, probably for no reason other than it was her favorite color. Needle agreed, "Same, I relate to that cube girl." Pin, however, differed from her accompanying bake bingers. "My allegiance to red team is unwavering. Go Cloudy!"

A new face greeted the screen. "Is that.. Leafy?" Teardrop noticed. "Yeah, I remember how she went to school a grade above me," said Pin.

-

The minute after Leafy first appeared, the stream got ten donations. "Love your stuff Leafy!" said a donation in the online livestream. "Well thank you, I'll make sure to pay you back! Let's read some more donations from the chat!" 

"Where did Fanny go I loved her smile"...  
"Can we go back to mr Brahms?"...  
"pls read this"...  
"go red team this year !"...  
"Cloudy THICC"...

After thirty minutes of reading donations, Leafy returned the camera to the show and the donations stopped. The show continued as usual for another half hour. During the last quarter of time for the competition, most of the activity was waiting for things to chill or heat and the commotion slowed down as it got closer to noon, when the bakes would be judged by the crowd.

Green team was pretty much done now. As for red team, surprisingly, they had a pretty good looking soufflé, in accordance with Cloudy's skills. Despite all odds, Ruby once and for all did something, adding a few touch ups to their plate with some cream, fondant, and edible superficial decoration in the last fifteen minutes, after she'd gone home and swapped shoes.

Small samples of the soufflé, and then meringue cookies with instant Jell-O (a last-ditch change by Book after she'd seen that the gelatin solution was frozen solid as a rock) had been set on paper plates for attendants to try both of, and add a tally under the team name. The Jell-O would end up not being valid, according to event organizers, and participants would instead judge by the cookies. It could still be eaten by staff though. "I hope someone takes the blue Jell-O cup - I added a surprise fork," whispered Gelatin.

One by one, townspeople of Pamana added their single tally mark to a side of a creased-down-the-middle paper. After five minutes, the victor was clearly seen to be Cloudy and Ruby. "Thanks, everyone;" began Cloudy. "Now I can say I partly fulfilled my dream." He continued on a droning speech. "I only liked it because of the cream," someone whispered among the crowd. After some packing up of the set and an elaborate monologue by Cloudy (only Ice Cube clapped), people began to leave or walk around the park for a while.

After the park was all cleaned up, Leafy came to Ruby, Ice Cube, Cloudy, and Book. "Great news! We have enough money to make the show twice as big next year! We can afford so much, the winners of this year's contest will each get $40,000, six times the original prize!" Ruby was silently shocked. "Now I can travel the world!" said Cloudy, swiftly flying away while forgetting he hadn't yet collected the money. "Hmm, well I was going to spend it on $18,000 shoes, but now I guess I can split it with you two munchkins," Ruby said to Ice Cube and Book.

Ice Cube, Book, and Ruby strode home, waiting for Ruby to receive the money to split with them, which she would a week later. This was enough for college.

* * *

By this point Pin and icee had been messaging each other often, more than several times a day. Over three weeks ago, during their video chat (neither could make it outside that day), Ice Cube'd said something about being an important part of a baking show with someone close to her. Pin knew by now Ice Cube was in a relationship.

Less than four days to Christmas were to go, and being with their families, they decisively shared facts about their relatives to each other: Teardrop drew for Pin in a middle school art contest when she was ten years old and won for Pin. Or Ice Cube has an older brother in an entrepreneurial business in Hong Kong, coincidentally. Or Pin's cousin knows three languages, or Ice Cube may have had a two-year-younger sister like Pin but it was a stillbirth... They even knew each other's names by now and regularly greeted the other with nicknames. Pin would almost always say "I didn't C you there." Ice Cube still used "Pinwheel" regularly. The two played Pubstomper for at least five hours every week. In-game Pin could vent about her job and school and her sometimes ignorant family, and Ice Cube could vent about job surfing and the people in her life, among other things. The two really became quite close.

On a Sunday December 21, the pair of judicators deemed the weather was perfect for a walk, with a slightly ruffled light gray sky, breeze to match (which meant waves to watch), and a chill just about chilly enough to keep the park population absent of large dogs and large dog walkers. Pin got on her best-looking boots (it was a decision between sneakers or boots) and sweater. She made sure not to forget to put on deodorant after brushing her teeth, something particularly uncommon for Pin, who didn't often care if people thought of her, even if she was inconveniencing herself in the process. "I have an appointment dad, see you and TD in an hour!" And she headed out to Pamana Central Park, bringing the paper boat she'd made last week for this day.

-

She steered her bike about the puddles, making a game of trying not to submerge the bottom quarter-diameter of the tire. Getting immersed in the view of the park ground, she had no time react to an incoming sound and bumped into a another cyclist, knocking their glasses down. "Sorry, I didn't see you there." Now that one was unintentional.

This was the first time either of the two had seen each other in real life. Now Pin had to locate Ice Cube's glasses amid the wet dirt to make this first impression the slightest bit better. "Don't worry," said Pin, grinning. "I'm better at seeing than my eyes will let me tell."

Ice Cube stole a glance at Pin meanwhile. She looked like the type she'd imagined her to be up-close: taller than her (as it seemed everyone was, somewhat-annoyingly), hardly tended hair, hoodie of a baseball team, and plain jeans, as well as a smile that was almost never bastardized by being displayed ingenuinely. After those few seconds the taller girl finally found the glasses and handed them to Ice Cube.

Ice Cube put them on. She realized Pin was waiting for her to talk. Ice Cube started a slight shiver, and not from the cold, but anxiety. She honestly thought it would go immensely more smoothly than this when they met, for whatever reason, and nothing witty came to her when she expected it to.

"tacaeang?" quivered Ice Cube, pretending not to recognize her.

"Yes, also known as Pin. Great to see you! Here's the craft I made," Pin said punctually, a habit when in uncomfortable social situations.

 _'Is this supposed to be a cardboard boat or plane? What was it that I asked her to do?'_ Ice Cube thought. Ice Cube couldn't remember, but she had to say something. From what she could see of it behind Pin's head, it was a light cardboard. _'Definitely a plane then, those need to be light.'_ "Well, let's see it fly."

"Yup. Let's fly it," Pin threw the craft into the air at an angle, after also thinking it was plane, after hearing Ice Cube say so. It didn't go high before coming back down on a truck roof, becoming irretrievable.

"Wait, maybe you made a boat," Ice Cube realized out-loud at the same time Pin did internally. Pin was reddening with embarrassment now, taking her turn to be the meek one. Ice Cube laughed kindly. "No, it's fine," offered Ice Cube. "You have more board in your backpack, right? Let's make an actual boat." They began to do so on the nearby benches for the next hour or so, taking turns every ten minutes or so to initiate some small-talk, the other attempting to build upon it but ultimately ending up unable to continue the conversation. It really was all so much easier online.

At the end, they'd secondarily happened to have collaborated in the making of one not-so-bad-boat that sailed past the end of the visible canal.

"Should we go see where it ends up?"

"No, its fine."

They concluded their first hangout, of several to come.


	2. Riposte

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Changes from previous parts:  
> * Pin's ancestry is now Vietnamese (this applies to Needle too).  
> * Teardrop stayed with Needle and Pin while they lived alone.  
> * Teardrop was adopted at age ~5, her heredity is left ambiguous.  
> * It's now next February.  
> * That friend Needle stayed with in December is Eggy.  
> * Something important has changed in Book, Ice Cube, and Ruby's relationship.  
> * Pin's fam and ic's friendos have become acquainted, eggy too  
> * The school year here starts at a different time than you may be used to.
> 
> Ages:  
> Pin age: 17, in senior year of high school,  
> Ice Cube age: 18, in a gap year between high school and college  
> TD age: 14, in freshman year of highschool  
> Needle age: 23, just out of college  
> Book age: 18, in freshman year of college  
> Eggy age: 24, not in college  
> Ruby age: 18, in freshman year of college (different one than book)

Needle, Teardrop, and Pin Le all ate their Corny Flakes together for the first time in four years, because they knew this would be a nostalgic day.

February 4! Or, as the youngest of the family has called it since age seven, "Nice Day". It was the day Pin and Needle's parents adopted Teardrop into their home! _Eleven years ago now, the initial day was_ , Pin reminded her little sister.

"Yeah, I know Pin," Teardrop said affectionately, in the same way one would respond to a parent saying goodbye to them before a trip.

"I'm just glad I could spend it with you! Ungrateful," Pin responded jokingly. Pin wasn't always welcoming of her sister though, even actively avoiding the thought of thinking that she had a younger sister, and moving her mattress to the bathroom. That was a brief period though, and nowadays Pin tried to push away the rude, embarrassing memories. In her preteens while trying to sleep she'd think in a cold sweat: "Hopefully TD doesn't remember." She didn't act the same way now; Pin tried to think her own ignorant childhood didn't show her true colors. She hated the phrase "true colors'', too. In second grade after a fable on __ _true colors_ _, she'd thought to herself: _Everyone has multiple dimensions to their personality and reasons for what they do. And they're always changing, aren't they? People can always change. If I had a true color it wouldn't be a color at all. Like white. Or yellow. Heh. Yeahhh..._ (Pin was not aware yellow was a legitimate color at this time.)

Pin evidently didn't have many friends to talk to in grade school.

Back to the moment, though: Needle came downstairs from her room after brushing her teeth after breakfast. "I've never seen you two so awake this early." Their mom came down and agreed after she told Pin to go wash the dishes since Needle would be leaving early today for two hours (work), and it was Needle who usually washed them at the beginning of the day.

This particular anniversary for Teardrop would be special because Needle was finally home with them. It was never practical for Needle to fly across half of the country during university to come home for the occasion, unfortunately. And Teardrop had said she didn't want to celebrate it on any arbitrary weekend when Needle had a break from campus. But now she was home this year.

Once the three were ready to go out, they went out to the theme park.

Pin had invited her friend Ice Cube to join them, and Ice Cube's friend Book. Both of them knew TD by now. Needle went with her friend Eggy as well.

==

[theme park things, rides, vlogging, kissing??? (all happens in one morning or day) find out more in the next episode of delicious pinwheel below]

"I love this? Don't you love this too? Tell me you love this." Pin said to Ice Cube and TD while she was riding one of the mechanical horses meant for kids at the entrance lot. 

"That's my big sister, by the way. Stay away."

"I heard from some people around town. Should I stay away?" Ice Cube responded playfully.

Book and Needle were chatting at the entrance.

"The people who believe in centrifugal force are noodles," Needle said while making a demonstration of spinning around with her arms out. Book laughed at this blatant display of unenlightenment.

"You're not even doing it right. You should be circling about a center point, not spinning with your arms about yourself," Book said.

"It's the same thing, my body is the center," Needle retorted smugly. "What do you think, Eggy? Spin or circle?"

Eggy just watched, amused, and answered her allegiance. "Spin to win!"

"Yeah!" Needle high-fived Eggy for agreeing with her.

" _But that wasn't even the original argument,_ " Book told them vainly. They were clearly hard-set in their victory. _Some of the populace just don't re orientate_ , she sighed, sounding smart to at least herself. Seeing another's viewpoint in the argument made her happy, anyway.

After some more hijinks and shenanigans (and general tomfoolery), Book and the others entered the thematic amusement park to get on the first ride.

\--

"So this is it, huh? Eggyland," Eggy commented as they passed the ticket area. _"I only came because it has the same name as me,"_ Eggy whispered to Book, kind of creepily but not in a way that was intended.

The first ride they'd planned to get on was the latest ride: EggCoaster, the first roller coaster to be constructed in the park, and a new ride Pin and Needle hadn't ridden ever before. Before it this place hadn't had a single coaster, but since the EggCoaster's installation, business has boomed. Those old years were dark times for Eggyland, for sure.

"The EggCoaster!" Teardrop had memorized the name of all of the rides here because she was bored one recent evening. "I remember seeing this when I went alone last year with mom and dad but I didn't know what it was called," Teardrop announced to her sisters, a hint of raw, unvarnished, bitter betrayal as ragged and cruel as the crevasses of the void in her normal kind, unassuming preteen voice.

Ice Cube looked at the layout of the huge roller coaster online, hoping it wouldn't be too boring. Lots of width and height.. but at least it went around! Like a cube! But round.

After an intermediate waiting line, half of the gang boarded on the rollercoaster: Pin, Needle, Teardrop, and Eggy. Book and Ice Cube would be further back since Ice Cube had needed to use the bathroom in the middle of the line and had to start to the back when she got back.

"This ride is like those 360 VR videos!" Pin said overenthusiastically. She was promptly hushed by someone behind the group's row of seats. "Oh, I think it's one of those rides, Pin," Eggy said. "One of.. _those_ rides? What do you mean?" she said, still kind of loud.

"She means we'll be watching a video in the tunnels while the ride is going, sort of like a movie. It'll have audio too so we can't be too loud so other people can hear," Needle informed her softly. Pin understood and shushed herself.

A custodian signalled 30 seconds until the ride was to start. Ice Cube and Book were finally let on last and hastily swapped places with some strangers so they could get two seats together. A digital timer counted down to zero.

They were all a little antsy in the forced silence. Another few dozen seconds passed and the ride didn't move at all. There was some delay with the rails or something or other. They'd need two minutes to get that in order, the officials announced. Then those two minutes were up and everything was fine. And then another minute, because some guy asked for water. And then someone asked for soda. "I hate this delay! Commence!" some arbitrary fed-up passenger in the back car shouted. "Yeah!" practically all of the other passengers agreed in unison. And commence the great EggCoaster did!

\--

An thematic and unnecessarily deep announcer voice instituted itself. _"On April 10, 1953, Malcom Eggy was born into western Goiky. In his early years, Eggy's mother and father had dreamed for him to become a prosperous typist. What his friends and family didn't know, was that he would go on to create the most successful theme park in the country."_ Within a minute, a premium beat built itself up in volume and passion, and then dropped like a grand orchestra of instruments. A nearby curtain unveiled a grandiose sign lit in alternating colors: " _ **E G G Y L A N D**_ ," the announcer boomed now, in synchrony with the sign's reveal. Claps of either awe or regret ensued from the roller coaster train.

" _Eggy's childhood in West Goiky was one of fortune. At this time, the entire region of eastern Panama had seen a big immigration boom from its canal industry and hotels._ " _And yet Ice Cube, a resident in the country since birth, couldn't care less!_ , Ice Cube whispered to Book in a faux announcer voice that had an over exaggerated accent to it. They chuckled. The announcer voice paused for a second, then decided to leave out details in the rest of the story, as if the narrator behind the voice was hurt by that snarky comment.

"With this fortune, Malcom was able to enter Kale University. Malcom studied hard there with other like-minded typists. On his first return home from university for the holidays, he wanted to go to his childhood theme park with his sister, but rode there only to realize it was permanently closed due to the unsustainability of the place and the ensuing budget cuts that followed. There at home, after seeing the state the theme park industry was in, he decided to get involved. The end."

The ride ended somewhat prematurely and another Eggland sign greeted them at the surface. Ice Cube was a little sad it was the end already; she actually really liked the story.

She just realized what a beautiful day it was outside, though. She shared that thought with Pin.

"Hey, Ice Cube, wanna get something at the theme park restaurant? I'm kinda hungry." book

"No, I'm fine. I kinda want to get on the next ride," ic

"Same." pin

"Well _I'm_ thirsty," eggy

"Alright, I'm hungry too. If you want to go to the restaurant get in a group with me, Eggy, and Book. If you want to get on the next ride follow Ice Cube and Pin."

Teardrop grouped with Icy and Pin, and the ride and food people went their separate ways.

  
\--

"I've been looking at the names of these rides online and they all start with 'Egg' now. So, uh, what's this next jungle-river canoe ride called again? Let me guess. _EggCruise_?" Pin asked before they'd stridden too far.

"My guess is _Eggtopia_ ," Ice Cube pitched in.

"It's actually just called Boat Ride." Teardrop said decisively. "Just kidding, it's called EggCruise."

Ice Cube surveyed the EggCruise. "Wide and long and bland, again. I guess it kind of fits the dumb egg theme here," she figured, out loud. That earned her a cold shoulder from Eggy for the rest of the day, who was listening from a few yards away in a seperate line.

"Wow, whoever named these rides must have been really low on inspiration. Who's naming these?" Pin asked the custodians one-by-one and even looked it up on her phone. Not one source seemed to know or care or even notice.

They became first in line and got on the ride before they could find a review of it. When they finally found one it read "2 hours long. wide and long and bland." In fact, negative reviews were the majority of reviews on all of the rides. And after looking up the name of the amusement park and their location and reading some more reviews, they came to realize that it was literally the second worst individual theme park in the country, the worst of Eggylands.

"Seriously TD, why did we used to come to this place."

"Nostalgia."

"I meant why did we come the first time."

".." Teardrop couldn't answer this. Probably because no culmination of knowledge in the universe itself at any point in the past or future had an answer for this. They could only be so glad it automatically had velocity.

Pin and Ice Cube texted Needle and Book that they would be here for a while.

Making the best of it, they cloudwatched. "I think that one looks like an Ebola vaccine." "Me too."

They played rhyming games. "Dog." "Frog." "Smog." 

They even took part in the Pamana 4D Mahjong Championship Grand Final. Teardrop won.

And even after all this, they still had an entire hour left to sit in this canoe.

"So when are the fireworks you told me about going to start? I think I've had my fill of the _eggcitement_ ," Ice Cube asked Pin.

"Six o'clock," said Teardrop. "We'll be a quarter late to it though. Ugh. This is as long as Needle's out-of-country semester." In ten minutes, Teardrop subsequently fell asleep from just thinking of anything as boring as what she was riding right now.

"You know, Pin," Ice Cube struck a talk after seeing Pin's bored expression in an attempt to engage her a little. "I'm actually thinking of where I'll go during my own abroad year at university."

"Oh, that's cool," Pin said. To carry the conversation some more she added, "I have no idea where I'd go myself."

"Yeah--, I'm thinking of going to an oriental country. And _really_ learn about the culture. Everyone I've talked to wants to go to Japan. I want to go somewhere else. Nothing against the country, but.."

"--How about Vietnam? Haha," Pin jokingly said off to the side, even though it wasn't anything close to a joke.

"Oh, never thought of that. I was thinking of Korea. Why Vietnam?"

"My family is actually from there." Pin had hoped Ice Cube wouldn't hear the side comment she'd made.

"Why'd you laugh then?? That's a great thing. I mean, not to be invasive of course. I love V-pop."

"No, it's just. My parents. haah.." Pin semi-involuntarily chuckled awkwardly, unprepared to talk about this.

"What do you mean? Not to prod." Ice Cube was mostly curious, but naive, and came across slightly rude.

"They're like, always on the phone when I'm trying to sleep."

"Oh." Ice Cube guessed this clearly wasn't the full answer. But she put it down. She also felt uncomfortable with Pin's little sister there too, even though Teardrop was asleep.

Pin appreciated the gesture but she didn't want to make things any sweatier than they were. She felt they were really more sweaty than they should have to be. Yet, as Laplace's demon would have it, they would very soon get sweatier.

Pin's phone vibrated from across her seat. She was being phone called. From the number, it looked like her dad.

"Hey, your phone's ringing."

"I know. I just don't feel like talking to my parents. I guess I should just tell you." But it was so hard to tell herself.

"I don't know why, I just can't bear with my--. I was with my parents at kindergarten, maybe the first day, I can't remember. The secondary teacher for the class said my name and made me cry because it was so loud in the quiet room. Then he made fun of my teary face and said it was ugly, as if that was supposed to make me stop? I looked to my parents who were in the back of the room and they were talking to the other teacher and looked like they were ignoring me. The other teacher kept talking to me angrily and I wanted it to end."

"But.., what does that teacher matter? I could have told you this when I met you: how apathetic you were in our first interaction. Remember what you told me when I dropped my glasses?"

"That's hazy. But it's not like it's about that teacher or this moment, he was apparently a cousin or something," Pin began, teary. "It's everything over the time. That other teacher was usually kind, but I know how she would've treated me if she saw me in detention every other day refusing to share with people. Which was because.. you're always supposed to be some image of yourself? I just hate how you are expected to reciprocate to that, when you're both being fake to each other and expected that to get somewhere. Why do people pretend to always be so cool and kind just to do this in the end? It's like a joke. I don't think my parents would care if I died here."

Ice Cube couldn't answer all of this, she could sense Pin was exaggerating the truth about her relationship with her family in her frustration. The thought of trying to relate to her friend with a hardship of her own seemed vain and unable to produce any desirable outcome - she'd been here too. "You don't have to sympathize with what I'm about to say. I don't get how you feel. Book's parents won't allow me and Ruby into their home because they don't approve of our relationship. I'd argued with them the first time, but it was a weak argument, because I don't even know if I support polyamory myself. It was such an embarrassing disagreement."

"I wouldn't know how that feels. Kind of an awkward situation."

"Thanks anyway. I mean, yeah." Ice Cube was glad Pin was receptive with her. "My parents are kind of like yours. They didn't react kindly when I told them about Book's parents' 'prejudice'. Ruby's moving away for college now..."

"I've never been in a romantic relationship, let alone one like that. Awkward," Pin plainly stated.

"Why not be awkward?"

"Comfy with my tendies."

"Huh?"

Pin returned to real life. "I'm just implying that I'm comfortable with not wanting to talk with my parents about it. I've barely spoken with anyone my age since middle school if I remember correctly. Or any outside my family at all, ideally. I'd be gaining nothing from not staying in the house all my life. It doesn't bother me."

"Pin. You can't live like that."

"They say that. I am, though."

"I think it's worth it though. Compare it to escaping Eggyland and this ride. We're familiar with going to this place, or at least you are, because you've been going here for years. But if we went somewhere else I have no doubt we'd have a better time or have an adventure there, instead of riding the same boring rides this place has. Think of all you would gain if you did some sort of creative project or went to college away from them. Liberation. Causation. Glamorization. T--"

"I know this one -- demonetisation."

"Yeah, somewhat. I got carried away. Anyway, compare it to hatching from an egg like a goose."

"I could see that," Pin smiled. The quirks in her friend's speech was what made her smile, more than anything. _There's something in it that makes you want to be an acquaintance to her._ Pin remembered that Ice Cube had said her favorite animal was the goose. "I used to love ducks when I was younger, maybe being one wouldn't be too bad."

They set aside their differences, laughing, need not because it was particularly funny, but because they enjoyed each other.

"I just remembered you said Ruby moved away from you and Book?" Pin added. "I don't know how you two would handle something like that."

"Thanks, I think she'll approve of how I'll handle it. She's found other people."

The boat turned the last bend and its bell rang, alerting passengers to get off of it so the next boat could dock. Teardrop woke up from her supposed nap and checked the time. It turned out the boat ride was only 25 minutes and she'd had her eyes closed for only 7. That review must have been satire. _Right._ A man on the ground asked them again to leave the boat. She would have to wake up her sister and her friend. Teardrop turned around to see them kissing and decided to instead wait on the bench near them, avoiding inspecting them too intensely. She was mature, right?

Teardrop opened her phone and played a game on her phone until they were ready. There was a new app in the store: **Argonaut Pubstomper Mobile 4: Mahjong**. The sequels were getting out of control. Satiating her current mahjong addiction and love for watching steamers play Pubstomper, she'd downloaded the app without question a few weeks back and played it nonstop. She opened the app for the first time today to queue up. On the global leaderboard, second place, _Taacaeang_. And Teardrop was #1 right now. She would keep that place tonight. After easily winning her first couple games, she decided she'd give it one more go then look for the rest of the group. The player against her this time was the third placer on the leaderboard. Teardrop sat tighter and focused. The first-place pressure on, but the enemy made no mistakes. Teardrop lost, hard. She was now #2 on the leaderboard. She looked at the enemy's username. "TheEggend27". Teardrop looked across to see Pin, Book, and Ice Cube on one phone, working together, with Book, Eggy, and Needle watching. "Beat you," Eggy said. "But this guy can't do that," Teardrop refuted, perspiring with stress and sweat. There was nothing in the world more unsatisfying than getting pubstomped from friends and family. "You should have read the rules of the game first," was Eggy's response to her.

"W-what is this? _Who_ is this?"

" ** _We're_ TheEggend27.**"

Literally shaking, Teardrop put her phone down and breathed in the winter air, wondering if she was still asleep. She wasn't. Looked like Pin had gotten her back. She'd let her little sister get first place again after this. And they would go see the fireworks.


End file.
